Our Board

Our board of directors are community leaders highly invested in Spark the Journey’s success.

They meet quarterly to provide strategic oversight of our program, participate in fundraising on Spark’s behalf, attend student and mentor events, and find other ways to leverage their skills, experiences, and networks to support our mission.

All board members make monetary contributions each year.

Theodore A. Schwab
Co-Founder & Chairman Emeritus,
Founding Partner & Managing Director, Steward Partners Global Advisory

The Honorable Mary K. Bush
Board Chair President and Founder
Bush International, LLC

Carol Adelman, PH.D.
Director, The Hudson Institute Center for Global Prosperity

Johnson Bademosi
NFL athlete and Spark, Gonzaga, and Stanford alum

John A. Bates
Partner, Potomac Equity Partners

Cathy Bernasek
Independent Consultant in the Nonprofit Sector

Gina Coburn
Founder, RallySkin.com

J. Warren Gorrell, Jr.
CEO Emeritus and Partner, Hogan Lovells

Dorothy Helfenstein
Independent Consultant/Senior Advisor in the Government Consulting Sector

Sarah Iddrissu
Chief of Staff to Congressman Jamaal Bowman

Margot Machol Bisnow
Author, Raising an Entrepreneur

James E. Nevels
Founder & Chairman, The Swarthmore Group

Charles Rossotti
Senior Advisor, The Carlyle Group

Macani Toungara
Director, Social and Environmental Responsibility at Dell Technologies

Dennis Via
Executive Vice President, Booz Allen Hamilton

Ambassador Michael M. Wood
Chairman, Redwood Investments, LLC

“Spark students are impressive in their own right for the hard work they put in and the persistence they demonstrate, most often in the face of daunting personal challenges on top of the more universal realities of adolescence. What I hear most often from our students is their desire to do well, coupled with recognition and appreciation that the network of support from Spark mentors and programs gives them additional confidence to grow and create opportunities for their future. The strength of Spark’s relationships with our students became not only more evident but more critical through the pandemic as immediate challenges and needs increased. I am proud of the team at Spark for its agility and dedication and of our community of donors who recommitted to supporting our mission. Because of this, Spark students persevered with their hard work of learning, growing, and exploring pathways forward.”
Gina Coburn, Spark Board Member

About Us
Why Mentorship
Our Impact